Shrek Takes On Mickey: The Dreamworks Experience Aboard Allure of the Seas 9/18-25

[MAGICFOR2]

hello? hope your Christmas was Merry

 

[nenner1]

Cool, thanks so much for watching & posting the pics!

You bet! We really enjoy watching especially when we "know" someone onboard! LOL!

I have been reading your TR over the past few days, but still only about half way there (at the part of the zipline right now). But I want to tell you it is awesome and I am so glad you are writing it. We are thinking of trying another cruiseline this spring, and this gives me a lot of info. Thanks so much.
And you have a wonderful, fun family!

Thanks so much for reading and for youe compliments! So glad you are enjoying the report and hope you find it helpful in your planning!

Hi! I just read your TR and I am really enjoying it.
You have really nice writing style! Can't wait for more!

Thanks so much for reading! Glad you are enjoying it! I will have more for you to read very, very soon (like hopefully this afternoon!)

Oh, Vintages looks and sounds wonderful! I completely understand why you so wanted to go there. Thanks for covering those spots you didn't get a chance to visit.

You're welcome, I do wish we had time to relax at Vintages. It was truly a lovely atmosphere! But I do have some wonderful experiences we did have still to share! Woohoo!

Wow I'd love to visit Vintages! I know absolutely nothing about wine but would love to learn more about it and that place sounds great!

Me too! And I really liked how their ordering system really seemed tailored to wine novices like us- I always feel overwhelmed byt he wine choices and not knowing much I would have no idea what to order,,,so we don't. I felt I could have learned a bit there too. Oh well....next time!!!

Thank you so much for sharing information regarding the other restaurants even if you didn't have time to experience them for yourselves. Like you said, next time!

LOL, yup! I really felt they warranted a mention since IMO the things I did take the time to spotlight are huge features of Allure we just didn't get to experience and I think anyone considering a cruise aboard Oasis/Allure -or just wanting to read more should absolutely be included here!

What a great report. I have been reading it secretly for awhile and it is great. I must admit though that I would be very overwhelmed going on this ship. Seems like too much to think about haha! I am already overwhelmed planning for our first cruise on the Wonder in March.

Thanks so much for reading! So glad you are enjoying it! I absolutely agree that Allure would be overwhelming for a new cruiser!! There are so many cruising basics to learn in the beginning alone- nevermind the specifics of cruising on such a huge ship with so many features.

However I believe no cruisers are more equipped and prepared to sail on these ships than Disney Cruisers/Disers. The type of research and planning that in the past has been pretty unique to DCL is what it takes to plan a great cruise on Allure - or Oasis- which is just another reason I felt many here may be interested int his TR!

Enjoy planning for the Wonder- our first cruise was on her too and we are absolutely hooked on cruising!!!

Just found your report and I have enjoyed reading about your trip! My family and I were on the Oasis of the Seas last November (2010) and had an incredible time. Wish we could afford to go again right now!!!! My kids keep talking about the carousel, ice skating and Adventure Ocean...and can't wait until we have an opportunity to sail Allure or Oasis again!!

We had an oceanview balcony on Deck 8 which was a wonderful location! We walked through Central Park several times a day and would book this location again.

Thanks so much for reading! Glad you had such an awesome time on Oasis! I'm looking forward to our next cruise on either her or Allure in 2013! I totally agree that Deck 8 would be an amazing location. I can't say enough about how much we loved Central Park!

I have more from this amazing cruise going up soon!

miss your updates ... hope you're getting everything together nicely to have a great Christmas!

LOL, I know I have really left ya'll hanging. I realized I had really let it slide when I let my Photobucket Pro lapse yesterday and immediately was over my bandwidth. So I guess there is still an interest! Haha!

So I have a couple spare hours this afternoon and I hope to get the next bit up!

hello? hope your Christmas was Merry

Hi Tammie! Yes it was awesome! Hope you and Jim and the family had a terrific Christmas too! I admit I'm glad it's over, it was craziness at the end there. We have a lot to do this weekend, taking the tree down and putting the decorations away. Not looking forward to that, so I'll escape back into this TR for a bit! LOL!

 

[nenner1]

We still had some time before we needed to pick the kids up from the club, so we decided to head back to the room and change to go for a soak in one of the hot tubs. On our way to the room, as we passed AO, we encountered a curious procession of kids out and about on a field trip. It was so adorable- and Look! There’s Sarah!

We would find out later they were on a “Space Walk” looking for “Fuzz Buzz" (hmmm....remind anyone of Buzz Lightyear?)- who they didn’t find. But they did find 18 Aliens! Who knew? Allure of the Seas…featuring cruisers and staff from 83 different nations and at least 2 galaxies!

How cute are they? Here is a video of them heading into the elevator:




Both rooms had these particularly large nosed bats to greet us this evening. Sarah named ours “FiFi”

Chocolates on the pillows at night, a nice touch!(If only they had Sleepy on them....lol)

Since our room was not a triple, we had Anthony just make the couch up into a bed (this couch was not a sofa bed, nor did we have a Pullman). It worked well enough, although Sarah did have trouble staying on it. Sometimes we’d find her in some contortionist positions over there. But she didn’t complain!

We went to the Solarium and soaked for a little while, or until I no longer felt like I was going to throw up from being over-stuffed!
Then on the way back to the room, we stopped and picked up the kids. Here they show off their Space Goo!

We had brought the remainder of our desserts back to the room with us and Sarah totally appreciated the mousse.

King Julien was down in the boardwalk so Ron took the kids down there for photos while I collapsed into bed.

The Boardwalk=gorgeous at night!

A little bit of fun!

How in the world they were still going, I’ll never know! We had pre-booked tonight’s CHICAGO performance for 10:30 in case we felt like going. No way was that happening, so a couple of lucky standby folks got to enjoy it on our behalf instead. I’m not really sure the show was our cup of tea anyway; we wanted to see it basically just because it is the ship’s signature show. ..But like a few other things, it will have to wait until next time!

Up next: Feed me, if you dare!

 

[jenseib]

Looks like a very fun evening! I am really wanting to sail this ship!!!

 

[iloverags2]

The kids look like they are having a blast! How cool that you ran into Sarah's group on their field trip! (Oh, and I spotted Minnie on Sarah's "bed"!)

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Hi! Welcome Back!

Looks like the kid's club was having a great space walk! What cuties!

It sounds like your kids had a great time at the Oceaneer's club? Fun character interaction. Not sure what to think about that towel bat!

 

[JKSWonder]

Pic of Sara eating the fancy mousse out of the fancy glass is adorable!

 

[livingis2me]

Sarah was having so much fun on that space walk that she didn't even notice we were standing right by her taking pictures.

The Kid's clubs on this ship seemed to be a big hit with our kids. Savannah was the only one who really spent time in the Kid's club on our 2010 Halloween Magic cruise and she was not to thrilled to be there, but we couldn't get her out of the club on the Allure. So Savannah's vote for Kid's Club goes to the Allure!

Ron

 

[knewton64]

hhhhmmmmm......no "Mon-kee" kissin on my upcomin adventure
-see below trip report ...in my signature .....and follow along if ya want -




(or will there be??)



But
b 4 I go, any suggestions on what

hmmmmm

how I say.......


what adult beverages I should try???

(I am relying on your expertise here since you have been on this adventure while yours truely havent yet)



meaning:
I tried my very first Miata (did I spell that right) while in Maui last month....

also I tried my very first Mango 'rita.....



and bananna /macadamia nut pancakes in Oahu.....


so any food recommendations as well??



I appreciate any suggestions -




Been real......


ok....we now return you to your regular scheduled programming.


THANK YOU .....and yes.....all of ye can chime in if ya want.





T.T.F.N.

 

[sperkins921]

Hello?? *echoes*
Anyone home?? *echoes*

Hoping everything is okay and that we'll continue to hear more about this great trip!

 

[Disney Family Lee's]

Just found this thread and have been reading for the last 2 days. WOW!!
What a ship!! We have just got off our first cruise on the Disney Dream in December for 4 nights and seen this boat at Nassau. We could not believe the size of the Allure!! We had a great time on the Disney Dream and could not see and do everything we wanted on this cruise. We would be lost on a boat that size and would not know what to do first. When I seen the Allure I was thinking a cruise on a boat that size would cost to much but it sounds like it may be cheaper than booking a cruise on the Fantasy?
We have alot to think about now thanks for this thread.
I can't wait until you post more about your trip!!

We have friends going on the same Fantasy cruise your going on.

 

[anewmac]

Holy Catch Up batman.. I dont mean the kind I put on a burger.. wow I have been so busy I have missed so much.. But iM back.. and as I was reading E kept looking over my shoulders going, we NEED to get on that boat.. ya think!

I like you are so glad the holidays are over. I think when we do so much for the darn holidays its hard to enjoy them. Now I can get back to business. Work, gym and trip reports! Maybe not in that order LOL

 

[SanDeeKath]

Thank you for this awesome thread! We booked a B2B on the Allure for Spring Break 2013! It's going to be soooooo awesome. 1 week without the kids (just DH and I) and then 1 week with the kids!!! We just cannot wait.

450 days to go!

 

[twindaddy]

Loving the trip report! However, I am super confused about the drink situation. Where can you get free soda? Do you have to buy a card or something? I drink a ton of diet coke, like whenever I am eating. No drink stations like Disney, where do I go for my fix?

And...if you look at your photos of Ritas and central park, are those stateroom right above there? So you could have a veranda that faces the inside of the ship? Are those way cheaper?

Thanks! Keep the report coming!

 

[DundasDad]

ok, I leave on my DIS Eastern Cruise in 60 days and can't wait for your updates! I bet you are doing this on purpose to drive me batty ...

 

[UmmGooD]

Thanks for another update. King Julian is one of my favorite characters. I don't have a clue why but I have a stuffed version of him on my monitor at work.

I wouldn't be able to sit through Chicago. I hated that movie with a passion. Well I don't like Renee Zellweger so maybe that is why I don't like the movie but if I were to watch the live show it would probably bring back bad memories of her so I would have passed

I am really tempted to try a RCCL cruise after our Disney cruise since we live in Texas and can easily get to the Galveston port. My main concern with RCCL is the clothing the entertainment people wear during the shows. Are they overly skimpy? I don't want my kids seeing that stuff.

When my wife was 21 we went to Vegas for her bday (I know I know Vegas defines skimpy) but we chose shows that allowed kids 5 and up. Well one show which was people impersonating famous singers like Michael Jackson, Christina Agularia, Tina Turner, etc... was for ages 5 and up and ALL of the dancers were wearing thongs and bra tops. We were up hauled. Good thing we didn't have kids there at the time. I would never take my kids to Vegas anyway but I always worry about that when I book vacations with entertainment and what impression the cast will have on my kids. Any thoughts?

Oh and my daughter loves Justice (she is 8) and she has some of the outfits your older daughter has I think. The funny thing is she'll only wear blue/boy colors. While my youngest girl who is 3 will only wear pink so it looks very similar to your kids. My boy is just now 2 months old so not exactly the same age demographic.

 

[anewmac]

I am really tempted to try a RCCL cruise after our Disney cruise since we live in Texas and can easily get to the Galveston port. My main concern with RCCL is the clothing the entertainment people wear during the shows. Are they overly skimpy? I don't want my kids seeing that stuff.

.

ive only been on a 3day RCCL and they wear nothing less than you would see on a beach, done a 8day on Carnival and they too show nothing more than what you would see whileon the beach for that matter either.

 

[nenner1]

Hello?? *echoes*
Anyone home?? *echoes*

Nope. I wasn't home! LOL!

We have been so very busy- dance competition season is heating up bigtime. We just spent a long weekend in Orlando at the Nuvo convention- it was awesome! Sav was one of the very last kids cut in the Breakout audition after 3 callbacks- considering the amazing competition from some really tight teams from Miami that were there- that was such an accomplishment! She also got a callback from her fave choreographer Travis Wall in contemporary. So, really exciting!

I had to do a change of schedule at work due to being out of vacation time, so it's a 6 day workweek for me. Sunday was brutal- straight from the convention to work. Ugh! I haven't had any legit vacation since September so I am really dragging.

I'm not going anywhere though and character breakfast is up next. If I have time to get it up tonight I will, otherwise tomorrow afternoon is looking pretty good!

I promise I will finish, no worries. Even though dance is heating up and baseball will be starting , I will have some time off again soon so the updates should become more regular again!

 

[nenner1]

Tuesday September 20- Day 3- At Sea

Can you believe it? It’s already:

Today’s Forecast:

We had the first of three scheduled Character Breakfasts (CB) this morning.

Character Breakfast on Allure is a little different than they do it on DCL. On DCL everyone has one assigned breakfast time, based on their rotational dining assignments. On Allure, CB is optional. If you want to do it, you can sign up in advance of the cruise online. It is free, but listed with the Specialty Dining experiences. It is offered on all sea days- one seating- at 8 AM in the MDR. The good- and bad thing is different characters are featured at each breakfast. Good in that- since you can book more than one (or all three CB’s if you so desire and if there is availability), bad in that they do not have a schedule or set pattern of what characters will be at what breakfasts. So if you want to see specific characters, like Shrek for instance, it is a crapshoot. Once you get onboard, they will put it in the Compass the evening before which characters will be featured at the CB the next morning, but by then usually the CB’s are booked up. So basically my advice is pre-book them all and then go to the ones that interest you and fit your schedule once onboard. (you can cancel without penalty and then a standby will get your slot).
When the CB’s first started on Allure, they would feature the Shrek characters at one breakfast per cruise, Madagascar at another, and either Kung Fu Panda or the Penguins from Madagascar at the third. By the time we actually sailed, they had changed it to Shrek characters for two of the breakfasts and Madagascar characters at the other. Since demand for the Shrek gang is so high, I assume that is why this was done.

Our CB this morning was scheduled at 8AM which was a little early for all of us to be up showered, ready and downstairs. But we made it. Like I had mentioned above, we had booked all three CB opportunities available because we did not want to miss Shrek and gang. You see, each of the Character Breakfasts could have any of the three set of characters: Madagascar (King Julien, Alex, and Gloria), The Penguins, or Shrek (Shrek, Fiona, Puss N Boots). They do not do specific characters on set days, so you never know what you are going to get, so we booked all three. You can (and should!) book this online prior to your cruise, (look under Specialty Restaurants in your Cruise planner once dining reservations open up) and best of all it’s FREE!

As we headed downstairs to the Adagio Dining Room, we had gone to Deck 5 first, because that’s where we thought the CB was held. The doors there were shut, so we went down to Deck 4 and that’s where we found it. The line was quite long; it extended through the large Dining Room entrance and spilled out into the hallway. There was a staff member greeting at the end of the line, guiding guests with the character reservations over to the left and queuing up regular breakfast-goers to the right. We had arrived a tad late- about 8:05 or so, but with the huge line we would end up being later. It took about 10 minutes to work through the line to be seated.
One thing I had read was that the characters don’t necessarily come out right away (I think I read here once that they come out about 8:30). Here is what we discovered: they aren’t consistent. This breakfast was in FULL swing at 8:15 when we were seated- we almost missed Shrek!!! But their timing may be dictated by crowds- this breakfast was SUPER BUSY, and the characters were out early and moved FAST. The next CB we were at was not busy at all and the characters came out later and moved at a more leisurely pace. So the lesson learned is always be on time- strike that- early, and be prepared to go with the flow.

As we were led to our table, we could see the CB half of the dining room was packed full and that we had missed some things already. What we had missed was the introduction of Shrek . When the characters come out (which they do individually), they are introduced by an announcer and then they do a little dance. Like I said, we had already missed Shrek’s intro, unfortunately. After their intro, each character starts “working” the dining room, table by table, each from a different direction. They do travel methodically though so they won’t miss you, don’t worry!

The very elegant Adagio dining room:

As soon as we reached our table, Shrek was basically there. We had hardly decided where to even sit. Luckily we are Disney veterans and have done this Character Breakfast a time or two so it didn’t faze us a bit:

We were seated in a very nice area at the center of the left side of the Dining Room, on the “Bridge” overlooking the lower level. To better describe, the outer parts of the dining room are one section, then there is a center section that you pass over a small glass bridge to get to. It is in this center section that the characters do their dance, but they face towards the outside of the dining room, so they had our backs to us.

We got settled in at our table, and out came Fiona! Like I mentioned they face out when they do the dance, and since our table was to the center, we got the backside of the dance but this is an example of the character introduction to which I was referring:

Video (click to play)




We were served our juice and coffee (they will try to sell you fresh squeezed OJ for $3.50 a glass but the regular stuff is free), and out came the chocolate pastries.

If you aren’t familiar, on Allure the Character Breakfast meal is chocolate themed. There are chocolate breads, pastries, chocolate sauce on waffles, even a chocolate milkshake (free!).

Here is the menu:

That’s a little hard to read, here is a close-up (photo from Theme Park Review)

Our pastries were two sliced of chocolate bread (a little dry); chocolate muffins (also dry); a chocolate puff pastry (delish!), and a chocolate glazed sweet roll (did not try).

Chocolate milkshakes!

Before we knew it Fiona had arrived:

If I can give any advice about Character Breakfasts, it’s to try and be ready when the character approaches your table. They were great here, as the character assistant would stop by and give you a heads up that your table was next, so you had plenty of time to scoot out chairs, get little ones out of high chairs/booster seats, remove napkins from laps, etc.

What I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE? No autograph books! Whoopee! Things move along nicely with that option removed. Sorry. I'm a heartless hag, I know, but those autographs take a LOT of time!

Puss N Boots was introduced next, here you can see how we were right behind the dance!

The kids get a little activity sheet (but no crayons????) and as each character visits your table they stamp the sheet, showing they had been there:

Rounding out the character visits, Puss n Boots had finally arrived to greet us:

 

[nenner1]

After we saw the characters, the food arrived!

Cheese omelet with bacon and the signature tomato half:

The omelet was very good!

Perfect Ganache Griddle:

It was pretty good. The same somewhat soggy waffles you find in the WJ, but with a chocolate/caramel banana sauce. It was good enough that I ate all of it anyway. I had asked for a side of bacon but I didn’t get it. I also didn't get my tomato, but that was fine by me! LOL!

Fried Eggs over medium with hash browns, bacon, and guess what….

Even Sarah got a tomato!

Overall I think the Character Breakfast was wonderful. I wish it wasn’t so early in the morning, but it was worth it, for the kids or kids at heart! don't miss it! (And yes, there were lots of adults-only parties partaking in the fun!)

After breakfast it was up to the pool deck for the girls, flowrider for the boys. I tried to take Sarah to the flowriders so we could watch the boys some, but she wanted no part of it:

Much better, mom!

The cute kid loungers by the H20 zone:

Here ya go, the Beach pool at 11:23 AM on a Sea Day!!! (Yes it was bit overcast still)

Sarah was tired, cranky, and a little overwhelmed so I took her back to the cabin for a little nap.

Up Next: Johnny Rocks In-My-Stomach!